Campers travel to Lafayette for Mardi Gras

In Lafayette, the main parade route and Cajun Field look like camp Mardi Gras. Campers and trailers line all the streets and people come from across Louisiana and other states to camp. Some of them say they're on their fourth day camping out, and they say Lafayette is the best place to be for Mardi Gras.

"My sisters come from Texas, brothers come from Beaumont, and then I have my sons in New Iberia," says Alvin Mouton from Henderson. He says he's been camping out for about ten straight Mardi Gras now.

For many of the campers, Lafayette Mardi Gras is a family affair and a tradition generations deep.

"My mother brought us when we were small, and we just enjoy Lafayette Mardi Gras," says Mouton.

"We came here when my kids were small. Good experience, and I always wanted to come back. And now when the kids get big enough to invited Daddy home, it's a good experience," says Michael Gable who comes to camp each year from Shreveport.

They say New Orleans is nice, but for Mardi Gras, it's Lafayette or bust.

"We've been like to Opelousas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, we've been there a couple of times, but mostly Lafayette," says Mouton.

"You have true Mardi Gras here. The culture, the people, the atmosphere is so different than what we have back at home," says Gable.

The best part of camping out is you don't miss a thing all week.

"You see the nightlife; the fair is next door. The band's playing. The whole experience is incredible," says Gable who has been camping since Friday.

If you want to join the fun at Le Festival de Mardi Gras, there will be rides and live music until 11 Monday night. Tuesday is the last day for the festival. It will start back up in the morning at 11.

As the weekend inches closer and closer the eyes remain down toward the tropics as we wait to see what this disturbed region in the Gulf of Mexico will end up doing the next few days. Chances for further development have increased to an 80% over the next five days.

As the weekend inches closer and closer the eyes remain down toward the tropics as we wait to see what this disturbed region in the Gulf of Mexico will end up doing the next few days. Chances for further development have increased to an 80% over the next five days.